Today’s ride started out on a nice bike trail out of Mercer along US 51. It connected to the “Heart of Vilas Co. Bike Trail” except I didn’t right away. I missed the turn and rode on a trail that was the plausible correct route until it wasn’t. I actually had to break down and get out my phone to figure out where in heck I was. After backtracking and finally getting back on the correct trail, it was a very nice ride. The trail must be fairly new with good pavement, signage, and cool bridges. Lot’s of people were riding as the area has numerous lakes and is a tourist center. In my defense, one critical sign was missing to point out the turn I missed. After the bike path, the route turned onto County K which was designated as a “Rustic Route”. That translates into a low traffic quiet ride on mostly good pavement through the forest past the occasional lake populated with “cabins” and “resorts”. Towards the end of the ride I met up with a young touring couple heading west on the route I have and will be following. We had a nice chat comparing notes about the ride ahead. The town of Conover where we stopped is a decision point, go south and take a ferry across Lake Michigan, or continue east to the MI Upper Peninsula and Mackinaw. We will be doing the latter.